The Group Effect
by CSIflea
Summary: A small town terrorized. A team called in. Another case solved...or is it?


" **We must remember that one determined**

 **person**

 **can make a significant difference,**

 **and**

 **that a small group of determined people**

 **can change the course of history"**

 **-Sonia Johnson**

The group stood in front of the assembled police force of the little town of Hogs Back. The men and women in black and white were ready with pens and notebooks, ready to take down anything that the BAU said. They needed all the help they could get and the BAU was their last hope to catch the sadistic bastard that had their town keeping indoors from fear.

This sadistic son of a bitch had been striking twice a year for the last three years, and every year they tried their best to try and stop him or her, but every year the bastard outsmart them and more people had gotten hurt and two had already died. The reason the BAU were called in this year, was because the attacks on the victims had become much more violent over the last year and their fears were realized when the victims this year had been even more traumatized than the previous years' groups.

Let's start at the beginning. Three years ago, a group of people went missing. This group of people came to the retreat that's just out of town that's famous for its group activities. For years this resort has been used by companies from all over the US to promote group work and improve staff morale. The first year a group disappeared while they were on an exercise in the woods that surrounds the resort; there was absolutely no evidence of a struggle and no trace of where they had disappeared to. A week later they turned up with some bruises, they were dehydrated and a little malnourished. Well, all except the leader of the group. The man had been beaten to within an inch of his life with serious injuries all over his body. After speaking to the rest of the group (which didn't help much) they only found out that they had been forced into a van and after driving for a while they were taken to a room and left there. No one spoke of what happened to them the week they had been missing and not long after they were found they all had gotten on a bus and left town. The leader (who was the shift supervisor) was flown to another medical centre who could cope better with his injuries and that was the last that was heard of them.

About a month later the same thing happened, only with this group their leader when he succumbed to his injuries shortly after the group had been found. The group had told of how they had been taken while on a camping trip and forced into a van, then taken to an abandoned house, but they didn't know where it was or how to get there. The most shocking thing was when they admitted that they were forced to injure their friend. They told about how a masked man had come in and threatened to shoot them one by one if they didn't do what they were told. Sadly there was no evidence that supported their story which left the State a little confused as to how to progress. They had to file charges and that case was eventually thrown out because of insufficient evidence.

The following year the same thing happened. Two separate groups were taken three weeks apart and then found again a week later. Luckily this time no one died, but the people were no less traumatized and the leaders were no less injured. It was after the second group were found and the police couldn't find the guilty party _again_ , that the mayor had declared that they would call in the FBI should it happen again. So when the next year rolled around, the entire town held their breath in anticipation, but just as everybody relaxed the news broke that a group of tourists were kidnapped while on their way into town and true to form they were found a week later with the tour guide severely injured, and she later died of her injuries. The same day they were reported missing the FBI was called who then promptly sent out the BAU.

Not even a day later the group landed at an airport in a nearby town because Hogs Back didn't have an airport and they would take a bus from the airport into Hogs Back, they had found out earlier that they could only get the cars reserved for them when they arrived in town as they had to share with the small town's only two detectives. The team agreed and then got into the bus that was sent for them. It was a comfortable drive from the airport to Hogs Back and the team used this time to work through what they knew about the cases and then Hotch gave them their assignments.

The team was so busy getting themselves organized that no one saw the look the driver of the bus gave them.

CM

After a few days of investigation and after speaking to almost everybody that had fallen victim to the Group Catcher (as he was now called), the team was confident enough to give the police department their profile which would hopefully help to catch the bastard before he strikes again.

So here they were, standing in front of the entire police department ready to let the dedicated people in front of them know who it was they were looking for.

"Thank you all for coming," SSA Aaron Hotchner, also called Hotch by his team, started off. "This profile is to help us narrow down suspects and ultimately stop them and bring them to justice. So the Unsub, or unknown subject, we're looking for is between the ages of 30 and 40. There is a possibility of helpers, but not necessarily. They probably have a very low self-esteem and seem to have an extreme hatred towards groups." Hotch turned towards the rest of the team and nodded to one of the uniformed officers who had his hand up.

"Is that why he or she targets groups?" the man asked.

"It is possible that he or she want to target groups to vent his anger towards them," SSA David Rossi answered the young officer.

"It could be that the Unsub has been either rejected or harmed by a group in the past, mentally, physically or even both," SSA Jennifer Jarreau, also known as JJ, added. A few officers scribbled down notes while nodding.

"This is Unsub takes pride in his work; he seems himself as a type of artist. We know this because he or she takes care arranging the victims before they're found," SSA Derek Morgan continued the profile.

"That's just sick," one of the older officers muttered.

"Yes, it is. He or she also believes that it's his job to free the rest of the group from the leader. Which leaves us to believe that besides hating the group, it's the leader of any group that caused him the grieve in the past," SSA Emily Prentiss said. "That could be the reason why the attack is centred on the leader and why he is humiliated before the attack begins."

One of the two detectives put up his hand and asked his question when Hotch nodded, "Do we know if it's male or female?"

"Well, only about 5% of psychopaths are female so we normally assume that the Unsub are male. Looking at this scenario, however, makes it difficult though. The violence going into the treatments of the leader would suggest male, while the careful disposing of the victims could very easily be female. In this case we can just not be sure enough," SSA Dr Spencer Reid said. The officers nodded, showing that they understood.

"What we need to so now, is to go over all the suspects we've got and see if anyone falls into that category, if they do, we need to interrogate them," Hotch said, ending the meeting and with nods and determined looks on their faces the officers each got to work. All except one, no, he really needed to make a phone call first.

CM

Hotch stood in front of the white board the team had set up earlier the week and looked over the suspects the officers had rounded up. The department was quiet with the majority of the officers either off duty or watching the team interrogating suspects. Something was nagging at him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Suddenly he felt small arms encircling his waist and he couldn't contain a smile as he turned around and looked into the beautiful eyes of JJ.

"Hey, we're still working," Hotch said, hugging her closer to him.

"Yeah, but there's no one here," JJ said as she reached up to give him a kiss on his cheek. The pair broke apart when a throat was cleared.

"How are the interrogations going?" Hotch asked Rossi as he glared at the older man.

"Not as good as in here, my friend," Rossi said with a smirk and a wink which made JJ blush, "we've got two very good candidates. It all depends on our Tech queen for the nail in the coffin and then it's time to go home." He had just finished speaking when Hotch's phone rang.

"Hotchner."

"My liege, it's the technical goddess,"

"Hang on, I'll put you on speaker, Gracia," he switched the phone over to speaker and placed it on the table, "go ahead."

"Okay, so I've looked into Michelle Fraser and no red flags attacked me, but I did find out that she was kicked out of a team on high school for not really being a team player. Now, Carlos Kirk is where the jackpot was struck and I will say that the Italian Stallion gave me the idea for this one. He said I had to check into groups and activities he's been involved in and I found that he is a glorified loner. He does not belong to any groups nor was he involved in any group activities. He was kicked out of the college debate team for telling off the judges during a meet. So he moved to Hogs Back a little over four years ago and he doesn't really have any family. He aged out of the foster care system when he turned 18 and then went to college on loans and scholarships."

"He fits into every part of the profile," JJ said, looking up at Hotch, who was looking at the whiteboard with a frown on his face.

"Yeah, he does," Hotch said, "but I've still got that nagging feeling that this was just a little too easy."

"Aaron, I think we've gotten so used to struggling to get cases solved and having difficult people to work with, that once we get an easy case that is a quick solve, we tend to second guess ourselves," Rossi said.

"I agree with the Italian Stallion, my liege, we should take a quick solve when we get it," Garcia's voice came from Hotch's phone that was still on the table.

"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch said and then closed his phone. He turned to Rossi and told him to present the evidence and then get the team together.

A few minutes later, Rossi came from calling the team and the filed in behind him.

"What do you guys think? Do we have our guy?" Hotch asked.

"I think so," Rossi said.

"Yeah, once you put all the evidence into perspective, it looks like we've got him," Prentiss said.

"I agree with Emily, Hotch, we've got him," JJ said looking at Hotch. He gave her a small smile.

"He didn't have an alibi for at least the last two kidnappings, he was hardly seen around town during the week the people have been missing and he fits our profile, I'll say we've got him, man," Morgan agreed.

"Definitely, besides, statically it's better to go with a first answer than to second guess yourself," Reid piped up, causing a couple of eye rolls.

"Okay, that's it then," Hotch said and walked towards the chief of police's office to present their findings.

CM

A little over two overs later the team was back in the bus on the way to the airport. Rossi and Reid were debating over one or another topic in the back while Morgan and Prentiss were discussing their double date plans the coming weekend. JJ and Hotch was sitting close to each other without really touching, and looking at pictures JJ had taken the previous weekend at the zoo.

No one was prepared for the bus to stop and the door to open, nor for the gun wielding, masked men to get into the bus, worst of all, Hotch was not prepared for the rifle butt he got to the face that stunned him enough for one of the gun men to put him in a choke-hold and a gun to his head. The rest of the team jumped up, but froze when the saw the scene in front of them.

Blood was running down Hotch's face, he was clawing at the arms around his throat, the gun to his head was the real reason the team just stared at what was unfolding in front of them.

"So, now that I've got your attention, why don't we go for a little ride?" a cold voice said.

 **Okay, so if you want to know what happens next, you're gonna have to review. I would like to find out what you think and if you want me to continue.**

 **These evil characters don't belong to me; I found them on Fleasia and felt sorry for them so I wanted to use them. The recognizable characters are not mine either, I just like to play with them, and I promise I'll give them back.**

 **Big Thanks to my beta, C. Nicole, she deserves an island with her name on it.**

 **Till next time (maybe)**

 **Flea**


End file.
